L.A. Down to One Woman on City Council

“It's really shocking. This is a state that is very pro-women.”

The scarcity of women in elected office in the United States’ second-biggest city is an increasing problem that doesn’t look like its slowing down any time soon. Nury Martinez is the lone woman on the Los Angeles City Council. “It’s a shame and embarrassing that in a city of 4 million people we are down to one woman,” she said. But it’s not just prejudice that’s preventing women from being elected to high offices such as mayor, controller, or even up to the Oval Office. There is also the reluctance of women who are shooting each other down. As Debbie Walsh, of the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, said: "The issue isn't that voters won't vote for women, it's that we don't have enough women running. It's a recruitment issue." But there are some who are shocked by the California statistics. One Democratic pollster summed it up: “It’s really very shocking. This is a state that is very pro-women.”